Revolving shelf mounting assembly



Feb. 6, 1962 A. R. HOFFMAN 3,019,912

REVOLVING SHELF MOUNTING ASSEMBLY File'd Dec. 30. 1959 V *qn l um Y i Hlfred Rfioffman IN VENTOR United States Patent 3,019,912 Patented Feb. 6, 1962 Eice 3,019,912 REVOLVlNG SHELF MOUNTING ASSEMBLY Alfred Raymond Hoffman, Gig Harbor, Wash, assignor, by mesne assignments, to Ellen Products Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 30, 1959, Ser. No. 862,820 6 Claims. (Cl. 211-444) This invention relates to mounting assemblies for revolving shelves, particularly revolving shelves of the lazy susan type incorporated in kitchen cabinets.

inaccessible space located in the corner of cabinets built at a 90 angle to each other may be made useful by mounting a lazy susan revolving shelf assembly in the corner. In one position of the lazy susan, paneling matching the cabinet front panels is presented to the exterior.

However, upon rotating the lazy susan, its shelves are brought to the front. As a result, convenient access is afforded to the storage space in the corner which otherwise is not readily accessible.

it is the general purpose of the present invention to provide a mounting assembly which may be used for installations such as the foregoing, which is easily installed, which is adaptable for use with mounting posts of varying dimensions, which securely mounts the rotatable shelves during use, and which may be removed easily for cleaning.

The manner in which the foregoing and other objects of this invention are accomplished will be apparent from the accompanying specification and claims considered together with the drawings, wherein:

H6. 1 is a view in side-elevation of a lazy susan type revolving shelf mounting assembly installed in a corner cupboard as described herein;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1 and futher illustrating thelazy susan construction;

FIG. 3 is a foreshortened view in side elevation, partly in section, of the hardware employed in mounting the revolving shelves;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of PEG. 3 and illustrating particularly the upper bearing assembly of the mounting; and

FIG, 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the lower bearing assembly.

Generally stated, the revolving shelf mounting assem bly of my invention comprises in combination a post adapted to support a shelf, a vertically arranged lower bearing assembly for detachably and rotatably mounting the lower end of the post, and a vertically arranged upper bearing assembly for detachably and rotatably mounting the upper end of the post.

The bearing opening of the upper bearing assembly has a unique stepped or offset configuration which enables lifting the post oil the lower bearing assembly, moving it angularly to clear the same, and then withdrawing it from the upper bearing assembly. It then may be replaced by reversing this sequence of steps.

Considering the foregoing in greater detail and with particular reference to the drawings:

A typical installation of the presently described revolving shelf mounting assembly is illustrated in FIG. 1. Cabinets it) are installed in a corner formed by walls 12. A vertical post 14 is rotatably mounted in an upper hearing assembly 16 fastened to the ceiling 18 of the cabinets and a lower bearing assembly 20 fastened to the floor 22 thereof.

A plurality of shelves 24, which may be cut to a circle contour, are fixed to the post by means. of brackets 26. Vertical face panels 23 are fastened across the cutaway segments of the shelves in such a manner that, when the shelf assembly is rotated on post 14, the panels are the cabinet.

2 brought into substantial registration with the front faces of cupboard. 10. However, by pushing on the panels, the shelf assembly is rotated so that all areas of shelves 24 are readily accessible.

Post 14 is provided with a recessed lower end and prefenably comprises a length of pipeof selected diameter. It is mounted on a lower bearing assembly, the construction of which is particularly evident in FIGS. 3 and 5,

A base 39 is screwed or otherwiseaflixed to the cabinet floor 22 and supports a segmental bearing assembly, the lower segment 32 of which is riveted, as at 33, to the base and includes a fractional (cg. segment of a ball hearing race. The second segment 36 of the bearing assembly is riveted, as at 37, or otherwise afiixed to the first segment and includes asecond part 38 (eg. a 90 segment) of the bearing race. i

The third section of the bearing assembly comprises the casing 4-0, the inner surface of which is formed with a third raceway segment of 42 (cg. a segment of approximately Raceway segments 34, 38 and 42 are in substantial registration with each other and house a plurality of ball bearings 44.

Casing 49 preferably is made of nylon or other suitable abrasion-resistant material and has a tapered, frustoconical outer surface '46, the lower portion of which terminat'es in an annular flange 48. Thus the open lower end of any pipe having an internal diameter lying within the range of diameters provided by the conical surface of the case may be mounted thereon.

The construction. of the upper bearing assembly is illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. It comprises a base 50' which may be screwed or otherwise afiixed to the ceiling 18.0)? A hollow casing SZcXtends downwardly from the base and hasa lower opening 53 to afford access to the upper end of post 14. The opening in the lower end is provided with internally directed upper and lower flange portions 54 and 55, respectively, to form a vertically stepped or offset structure, the upper segment comprising substantially 180 of a circle and the lower segment comprising the remaining 180. A conforming stepped bush.- ing 5'6 made of nylon or other suitable bearing material is snapped into position on the flanges 54 and 55, the bushing having outwardly directed upper and lower flanges 57 for such mounting engagement on the flanges 54 and 55.

As is particularly evident in FIG. 3, housing 52 is hollow and of suflicient extent vertically to permit lifting post 14 until its lower end will clear lower bearing assembly 20. Also, the recess within the housing is of sufficient lateral extent on the side opposite the upper stepped segment of the stepped opening and the upper stepped segment is disposed in a plane above the lower stepped segment to permit angular movement of the post as required to swing it clear of the cabinet.

The effect may be likened to that produced if the housing were to be made by running a drill into a solid block of material in the direction assumed by post 14 in its solid line position of FIG. 3. After the drill has reached the base of the block it is tilted about its center line, enlarging the recess laterally, and vertically offsetting the opening. In this manner space permitting angular movement of a post subsequently mounted in the opening may be afforded, while still maintaining essentially full hearing function of the opening.

As has been indicated above, the revolving shelf assembly of my invention may be mounted by tilting post 14, inserting the upper end into the opening in upper bearing 56, elevating it to the dotted line position of FIG. 3, and then swinging and lowering it to the full line position of that figure, whereupon the open lower end of post 14 is seated on casing 46 of lower bearing assembly 20. The

shelf assembly then may be used lazy-Susan fashion in the corner of the cabinet until it is desired to remove it for cleaning or other purposes, The foregoing procedure then may be reversed.

Thus it will be apparent that my invention provides a revolving shelf mounting assembly which is easily installed and removed from corner cupboard installation and makes possible the convenient use of space in the corners of such cupboards which otherwise is accessible only with difficulty.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention herein shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A revolving shelf mounting assembly comprising in combination a post adapted to support a shelf, a vertically arranged lower bearing assembly for detachably and rotatably mounting the lower end of the post, and a vertically'arranged upper bearing assembly having a bottom opening of substantially the same diameter as the post for rotatably and detachably receiving the upper end of the post therein, the bottom opening being vertically and laterally stepped and proportioned to afford clearance for lifting the post off the lower bearing assembly, moving it angularly to clear the lower bearing assembly and then withdrawing it from the upper bearing assembly,

2. For use in a revolving shelf mounting assembly including a post adapted to support a shelf: an upper bearing assembly comprising a bearing housing having a vertically stepped opening in its lower end, and seated in the opening a vertically stepped bushing dimensioned to mount rotatably the upper end of the post, the housing being recessed both vertically and laterally sufficiently to permit lifting the post in an axial direction and moving it angularly for withdrawal from the bearing.

3. The upper bearing assembly of claim 2 wherein each of the stepped sections of the bushing provides a substantially 180 segment of the bearing surface.

4. A revolving shelf mounting assembly comprising in combination a post adapted to support a shelf, a vertically arranged lower bearing assembly for detachably and rotatably mounting the lower end of the post, and a vertically arranged upper bearing assembly comprising a housing having a vertically stepped opening in its lower end, a vertically stepped bushing seated in the opening and dimensioned to mount rotatably the upper end of the post,

the housing being recessed both vertically and laterally to permit lifting the post in an axial direction as well as moving it angularly in the direction permitted by the stepped configuration of the opening.

5. For use in mounting revolving shelves fastened to a vertical post having a hollow lower end: a lower bearing assembly comprising a base, a first bearing race segment riveted to the base and extending upwardly therefrom and including a first segment of a bearing raceway; a second bearing race segment secured to the first segment extending upwardly therefrom and including a second segment of the bearing raceway; and a bearing case enclosing the first and second bearing race segments and having an upwardly and inwardly tapered outer surface for engagement by the recessed lower end of the post, thereby being capable of mounting engagementby posts of different diameters, the case having on the interior thereof a third segment of the bearing raceway, the raceway segments substantially registering with each other, and a plurality of bearings working with the raceway for permitting free rotation of the case.

6. A revolving shelf mounting assembly comprising in combination a post adapted to support a shelf, a vertically airanged lower bearing assembly for detachably and rotatably mounting the lower end of the post, and a vertically arranged upper bearing assembly having a bottom opening of substantially the same diameter as the post for rotatably and attachably receiving the upper end of the post therein, the bottom opening being defined by a pair of vertically arranged upper and lower stepped segments of the bearing, the lower edge of the upper segment being disposed in a plane above the upper edge of the lower segment and the segments being proportioned whereby to afford clearance for lifting the post off the lower hearing assembly, moving it angularly to clear the lower bearing assembly and then withdrawing it from the upper bearing assembly.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Jorgensen Jan. 15, 1957 

